Cate Masters: 10th Day of Christmas: Wendy Burke

Cate: Author Wendy Burke is here to spread some holiday cheer! Wendy, please tell us a little bit about yourself.

Wendy: Well, Cate, when I’m not playing with the people in my head –and there are way too many to count! – my day begins at 3AM. I wish I could say I’m up writing – in a way I am – but not on the fiction I love so dearly. I’m a television producer and am responsible for two hours of local programming daily.

I’ve been in media all my life – radio, TV, commercial production, and now fiction writing.

And, yes, my coworkers will find themselves in one of my novellas soon! (Gee, hope they all have a sense of humor!)

And, I’m proud to say I’m a born & bred Cheesehead – displaced, however, for the past 30 years!

I live with my cute chef husband (no cooking – bonus!) and two furry felines in the Great Lakes region of the MidWest.

Cate: Definite bonus, lol. What do you love most about Christmas?

Wendy: Just how wrong would it be if I said I’m really not a fan of holidays?! Well, I just did. However, I am a huge fan of winter, although winter certainly isn’t the ‘winter’ I remember growing up in Wisconsin! There just isn’t nearly enough snow!

But, going back to the ‘Christmas’ question – what I love about Christmas is my husband’s obsession with getting a real tree, cut at a tree farm the day after Thanksgiving and having it lit by the time I get home from work (since I’m usually working holidays).

Of course, the religious aspect – which is slowly becoming something in the ‘background’, in my opinion. A good carol by a church choir always gets to me.

Cate: I know, where did all the Christmas snow go? :)

Do you have a favorite memory of a Christmas past?

Wendy: My favorite memories are a collection of things: my mom making potica (a Slovenian nut bread), the entire five-foot in diameter kitchen table covered in dough---the special cookies she would make (waterhorns were my favorite)--the large tree bulbs with the clips on them, they got HORRIBLY hot after a few hours of being lit – ribbon candy, which I’m sure was made only ONCE in the past 600 years, like sourdough bread it all comes from the same batch and no one eats it!

Cate: Ha! Yes, like those clear hard lollipops that kids were lucky to finish with their teeth intact, lol. If Santa could grant one wish, what would you ask for?

Wendy: The ability to hang out with my parents—both gone too soon.

Cate: Mine too, and the holidays are a little empty without them.

On a cheerier note, tell us about your latest release, and where readers can find it online.

Wendy: Well, this blog fits right in, as Wise Men Say is set during the holidays! I was so pleased to honor my hometown (Hey, Sheboygan!) by having it as the hometown for the characters.

I may have inadvertently written the perfect Lifetime or Hallmark network movie…long lost love returns for the holidays…with a bit of a twist. Let’s just say the title is two-fold. (And, uh, Lifetime, if you’re interested, have your people call my people…)

Wise Men Say is my third 1NightStand story through Decadent Publishing—I’m happy that DP keeps me around!

You can find it on my publisher’s website: www.decadentpublishing.com, Amazon, and other ebook retailers.

If you head over to DP, you’ll also find my first three works, Respite – and two more 1NS stories, The One He Chose, and Haste Ye Back.

Wise Men Say – Blurb:

More than twenty years ago, Emmy Patterson kissed her fiancé for the last time. Despite bad news from U.S. military services, to this day she has reasons to hold on to hope he's alive and celebrates his life every chance she gets.

Her family, however, thinks her partly crazed, unable to grasp the reasoning behind her perpetual optimism.

Called on a business trip to promote her glass artwork, she spends the winter holidays in Las Vegas. Is this chance travel to the Hotel Castillo in Vegas a coincidence, or does the wise Madame Eve know ‘some things’ were meant to be?

Cate: Anything else you’d like to share?

Wendy: I love to hear from readers, and I personally respond to emails (no auto reply for this gal!). Holler at me: wendyburke1994@bex.net. Tweet me: @wendyburke1994. Facebook me: Wendy Burke Author. Or harass me at my blog: www.whateverwendy.blogspot.com